BIX Combines Stablecoin Wallets with Visa Cards for Seamless Spending

The frustration of holding stablecoins is well-known to anyone who has tried to use them in everyday life. The balance sits idle, denominated in dollars and liquid, but useless at the checkout counter. To make spendable money, users have traditionally had to take a detour: transferring funds to an exchange, selling, withdrawing to a bank account, and waiting.

BIX, an app combining a self-custody wallet with a Visa card, aims to change this experience. Users can hold USDC or USDT across supported networks like Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, Base, Solana, and Optimism, and spend against that balance using their card accepted wherever Visa is.

According to David Imonitie, head of US sales at BIX, 'The ability to bring a valuable solution to a problem is always a win in business. We have created a simple way for people to use their stablecoins in their everyday lives.'

The app offers different membership levels: standard membership is free, while a virtual Visa card costs $9.99 and works immediately for online payments and contactless use. There are no funding fees, but the US program applies a 1% FX fee on applicable foreign-currency purchases.

Currently, BIX supports eligible residents of 29 US states, subject to identity verification and programme requirements, with expansion to 49 states targeted within six to eight months. The company is also working on virtual accounts for incoming payments and outgoing fiat transfers, connecting stablecoins with ACH, SEPA, and SWIFT.

It's worth noting that BIX is a finance app, not a bank, and card issuing and other regulated financial services are delivered through third-party institutions under their respective arrangements.